Marian Anderson Recital At The Lincoln Memorial- April 9 1939

Rating-- 6/10

This is an example of a "historically significant" recording that is actually very historically significant. It is Marian Anderson's recital on the Lincoln Memorial that occurred since she was black and the Daughters Of The American Revolution would not let her sing in Constitution Hall, so Eleanor Roosevelt held an open-air concert where she could sing to a crowd of 75,000 people and millions listening to the radio. I listened to the Newsreel Story from 1939, which had her singing "My Country 'Tis Of Thee".

The recording itself, unfortunately, is not very good quality and she has to sing in that 1910s way I don't like. I listened to other songs she sang, including "Es ist vollbracht" (from Bach's Passio secundem Joannem) , which was very pretty and had a definite mood to it-- like being in a large room trimmed in dark wood, and is the first recording of a black opera singer with a symphony orchestra.